Dancing duos wowed crowds at Dover Downs

"Dancing with the Delaware Stars" took place Saturday night at Dover Downs, in front of a packed house of fans and supporters, eager to see who had the best moves.

Christine Miller, arts & entertainment

Some of Delaware's best and brightest laced up their dancing shoes this past weekend for Dancing with the Delaware Stars, a charity fundraising event for Mom's House of Dover.

The event featured eight notable Delaware residents with little to no dancing experience, who were partnered with a more experienced dancer or dance instructor. The format of the event was similar to the popular television show, "Dancing with the Stars," which subjected the dancers to public critiques and scoring. However, unlike the show, the critiques did not belong to the judges alone. Supporters were allowed to vote for their favorite dancers with $1 votes online and at the event. The public voting then counted towards one-third of the dancers' total scores.

In the end, the winning duo was Susan Benedetto and her dance instructor Torian Demby, who pumped up the crowd with a fun, youthful routine. Benedetto is a Dover resident who serves as a pharmacist for several local businesses. Her partner, Demby, is a student at Delaware Technical Community College, who also works at the Milford Walmart.

The other participants included Deborah Edwards and her partner, Dave Graham; Ronjaira Henry and her partner Tony Bruno; Lion Gardner and his partner Autum Drulis Schneider; USAF Col. Kevin J. Murphy and his partner Shondelle Graulich; Glenenise Parks and her partner Rich Normington; John Van Gorp and his partner Andrea Evers; And, Chad Reed and his partner Jessica Moyer.

Mom's House of Dover is a local organization dedicated to providing safe, secure and free childcare to low-income parents wishing to continue their education.

For more information about Mom's House, visit www.momshouse.org/dover.html.